Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He had heard stories.

Incredible stories about people whose personalities were influenced upon receiving someone’s heart. 

How a young girl, upon receiving a heart transplant from a departed young ballerino - took a profound love for dancing - even though she had never danced a day in her life. How another boy, upon receiving his new heart, grew to deeply love a group of children he kept seeing vividly in his dreams despite having never met them. How a dangerous man’s demeanor changed from a life of crime to saving lives upon receiving the heart of a gentle soul..

Each story, each report he read was more fascinating than the last; Professor Gerald had his own theories on how such a phenomenon could occur, but he would only be able to prove it through application.

And what a dangerous, unprecedented application this would be.

The more you learn, the less you know. Those were his dear father’s words to him when he was just a little boy. How true they were.

Because only a fool would think of the world merely in terms of the material. The Unseen, as he liked to refer to it, was as intriguing as the wonders of the Physical, if not more so. The endless possibilities of Chaos energy, how it responds to the heart and soul, all the other intangible forms of energy that exist in the universe…even if he lived a thousand years, he wouldn’t be able to learn everything.

He knew - he knew no reasonable man would ever make a deal with the likes of Black Doom; he was toying with the fundamentals of life itself. His bargain with the vicious alien warlord was a Faustian one…a wiser man would’ve never agreed to anything the demon proposed in way of a ‘deal’, much less create a being carrying his blood.

But Gerald’s rationality tended to fly out the window wherever it concerned his dear granddaughter. 

He’d run out of options; tried every other solution he could think of - applied his genius in every possible way, nothing worked. 

Experiment after experiment, up until the Biolizard. His last resort. 

The Biolizard, despite its promising early projections of success, was a tragic failure. A failure he still couldn’t bring himself to show his gentle-hearted Maria. The sad state of the creature would give her nightmares. 

He had no other options after that, no viable paths he could take down the road of treating Maria’s worsening condition. And to add to it all, the government was cutting his funding unless he ‘pulls his head out of that nonsense’ and starts building the weapon the President lusted for. 

And just like with Black Doom, he knew better than to engage them, but desperate men do desperate things. 

Truth be told, there was no way for him to know how the Black Arms DNA could influence the creature, especially once it reached fully physical maturity. He could only predict based on theories and lessons learned from the Biolizard, but all of that would mean nothing when it comes to the creature’s psyche, its personality. Its…soul. 

That was a matter of the Unseen he could never control. 

Gerald stood at the pod, observing the growing fetus. The most disturbing of the Black Larva’s physical attributes were finally gone, and the creature was developing into a more familiar, normal shape, not too different to how every creature on Earth starts off. By the time it would be ready to come out, Gerald prayed it would look how he engineered it to be. 

If it did, Maria would be over the moon with the surprise he had in store for her.

The Professor pulled the biological scanner over, extending the joint of the long arm it was attached to so the screen was positioned exactly over the fetus’s body. Equations began to scroll along the edges like an unsettling version of a film’s credit sequence. 

Framed in the center of it all, the organ that would eventually develop to become the creature’s heart pulsed. 

It sat exactly where it should be behind the rib cage, but it was still tiny and uncoordinated, a ways away from beating like a normal heart. The fetus was still too delicate to take out of its controlled environment, so Gerald would have to do the operation through the IV line going into the pod. 

He turned back to the workstation, and looked with an eagle’s eye into the microscope. Needle in hand, he meticulously picked some stem cells from the miniscule tissue of muscle in the dish and walked back to the pod. He entered his code, and the IV line was active and ready.

Only dimly registering the slight shaking of his hands, Gerald transplanted some of Maria’s heart cells into the creature’s own.

oOoOoOoOoOo

“It’s.. a hedgehog?! Oh my gosh oh my gosh it’s a hedgehog-! ”

Gerald rushed to steady Maria’s shoulders when she looked about to swoon mid-bounce. “Yes, yes, my dear, but please calm down! I knew you’d be delighte-”

“Is it a boy or a girl?!” she asked breathlessly, her smile lighting her whole face, hardly bothered by the fact that she was barely able to stand upright without her grandfather’s help.

“A boy-”

“Look at his little paws - and tail! And the stripes, they’re so cool!” she went on, smooshing her face against the glass, trying to observe the still-forming hoglet more closely, and Gerald could practically see the gleam of Robotnik genius shine through her eyes.

Maria’s illness stopped her from many things, but it didn’t in any way diminish her awakening genius, especially in the natural sciences. If - no, when he finds the cure, he knew Maria would go on to become a legend in her field one day. 

She had a knack for robotics, like her grandfather and uncle, but it was the marvel of organic creation that captured her completely. Gerald knew she was going to follow every detail of this creature’s growth, and Gerald wouldn’t want it any other way.

Well, it also helped that his granddaughter absolutely loved hedgehogs.

“..and his spines are all puffed out, like a star! He’s already perfect, Grandfather! Can he come out soon? What’s his name?”

“He still barely looks like a hedgehog, love,” laughed Gerald fondly. “He’s still growing, it’ll be a while longer.”

“How big’s he gonna be?”

The genius hummed thoughtfully. “If all goes well..I think it might be possible to take him out of the pod when he’s a little under two feet.”

“That would make him about the size of a six year old,” said the girl, looking up at her grandfather curiously. Gerald nodded in agreement.

“Indeed. He won’t grow at the normal rate of hedgehogs; in fact, he’ll probably reach full physical maturity within just a few months after that..a year at most.”

“What’s his name?”

Gerald paused. “Well, he doesn’t quite have one yet, we’ve been referring to him as Shadow.”

“It’s perfect,” she breathed, turning back to gaze at the small creature curled onto itself. 

Gerald was surprised. It wasn’t like the name had any affection behind it. It was grim, like the potential of this creature’s fate. In fact, the name had been lovelessly, scornfully given on a particularly difficult day. 

It had been one of Maria’s particularly bad turns, her condition worsened to the point where she had had to undergo another delicate operation. Gerald had been beside himself with worry, so had been the entire staff. Through the crippling stress over Maria’s very life, having to still go in and out to check on this creature when no one even knew if it would ever be useful hadn’t been how anyone wanted to use their time; the creature’s name was a reflection of the dark place everyone’s heart was in that day. 

“Perhaps a more optimistic name is in order. That’s for you to choose, my dear.”

“No, Shadow is perfect,” she insisted. “A shadow tells you which way to go to find the light.”

For a moment, Gerald was speechless. Here Maria was again, reminding him of what it meant to be a student of life. Cutting through the darkening fog and pulling him out of the well before he found himself descending it again the way it tended to happen on his worse days. 

She was his legacy, his pride and joy.

He wrapped his arms around her in a hug, running a hand gently through her soft locks, hit by the sudden, inopportune desire to cry. Thankfully, he was able to hold his tears at bay. He loved her so much. 

“Grandfather? Please don’t wake him up without me, okay?” she said.

“Absolutely,” he promised. He’d never intended anything else; it only made sense that the very first person Shadow sees is Maria. That’s who he was made for, after all.

When Maria’s personal caretaker, Mrs. Bead, came to pick her up for her medication, Maria was reluctant to leave, but knew she had to. She turned one more time and pressed her small palm to the pod. 

“Hello, Shadow,” she said softly. “I promise, you’ll be out before you know it. I can feel it in my heart. I can’t wait to meet you..”

After Maria was gone, Gerald went back to work, meticulously engineering what was to eventually become the hoglet’s mind. But before he could get too consumed, a young scientist, Harry, who’d been silently monitoring the mineral levels in the hybrid’s body as per Gerald’s instructions, tentatively walked over. 

“Professor, sir..? I couldn’t help but overhear.. is it true you intend to bring out the creature before it’s physically mature? That would be around the fifteen year-old mark for hedgehogs, not six.”

“Indeed, if his development goes without issue,” said Gerald, fingers flying across the keyboard. “This time, we have a stabilizer; the Black Arms DNA should make that possible. So far there hasn’t been a single mutation, and aside from the accelerated development, of course, the Ultimate Lifeform is growing normally as a hedgehog.”

When a few moments went by without a word, Gerald turned to look at his young subordinate. The young scientist genuinely looked afraid. Honestly, Gerald couldn’t blame him; the Biolizard was still a fresh wound.

And those few on the ARK who knew of the Black Arms involvement (a secret Gerald kept only within his closest circle) weren’t any more appeased by the fact. 

“Can we really be so confident, sir? We don’t know how it’ll react upon taking it out of the pod while still immature. We’re dealing with two unknown variables now, not one-” 

“A very valid point, Harry. His physical growth, we can control,” explained Gerald. “I can adjust his body to handle the strain of Chaos Energy, program his mind and speed up his intellect…but not even I can control a living being’s emotional and psychological needs. These matters..they can only be learned through living. If he is physically stable at the six-year old phase, he can be awakened.”

“..But..wouldn’t he be too young to control his innate Chaos levels idly?”

“I’ve been researching solutions for this very problem, and I may have found it,” said Gerald. “It’s still a work in progress, and Maria will be helping me. Even though her true passion lies in the natural sciences, that girl’s already showing her chops in robotics, like her dear grandfather,” he added, full of pride. 

“Besides, the earlier he gets to know Maria and form a bond with her, the better. It would help that the Ultimate Lifeform and the person he’s meant to cure get along.” 

oOoOoOoOoOo

Months passed, and the Ultimate Lifeform was finally awakened to the world.

Like the Biolizard before him, Shadow grew incredibly fast. 

Within the first seventy two hours of existence, he was already able to communicate in simple sentences. Maria had been the first word he uttered, to her delirious joy. The second was Professor, and Gerald liked to pretend it didn’t spark a fondness in his heart, something he never expected.

Within a week, Shadow was able to give logical answers to elementary problems Gerald gave him. And ask existential questions like every child. 

Within two months, he could follow instructions during his preliminary Chaos control tests. He used both the knowledge Gerald had programmed into his brain when he was still in the pod, and newly-acquired information without issue. The Inhibitor Rings, created for him to alleviate the strain of his innate Chaos energy, served their purpose excellently. 

Unlike the Biolizard, however, Shadow grew stably both physically and intellectually. He was sentient. Congenial, even if solemn and quiet. 

There was nothing (that Gerald could see) to raise concerns that the Black Arms in Shadow might cause problems. Gerald couldn’t even know for certain if Shadow’s temperament was genetically influenced or if that was simply the way he was. Nevertheless, when Gerald accepted Black Doom’s deal and worked on creating this being, he’d wanted a safe choice to...balance things, and hedgehogs were the perfect species for many reasons. 

But creating a creature from the foul-looking larva wasn’t something people could easily forget. While some of his staff had taken a liking to Shadow, Gerald knew some others were repulsed by him. Maybe even feared him. And like any other child, Shadow could sense it. In fact, for a creature carrying the blood of a species known for its bloodthirstiness, Shadow was a delicate soul - and for that Gerald was eternally thankful.

And so he made it an utmost priority between himself and Maria to pour love into Shadow’s heart as early as possible, before any other influences corrupted his pure mind and tainted his spirit. 

He’d hoped Shadow would get along with Maria, but it was so much better than that. Never in all his years had he seen such mutual friendship and trust between two beings. 

They were inseparable from day one. Maria absolutely adored Shadow, and took it upon herself to teach him everything she knew. Shadow was immediately drawn to her upon his awakening, wouldn’t leave her side except when either had to be taken for tests.

Dare he say it, Gerald believed their souls may have become intertwined. 

Walking into Maria’s room one night, he found the now-familiar sight of his granddaughter sitting in her bed, back propped up against the pillows. Shadow sat in her lap, and her favorite book, Creatures of Our Earth, laid open across her legs. A vanity mirror was propped up at her feet.

“ - brushing your spines from the roots outwards is the best way to clear out any tangling and remove the baby quills, to make room for your permanent ones to come out strong,” she was explaining while gently running the brush across his fur, starting at the front of the young hedgehog’s soft head and slowly rolling it back through the top spines. 

Shadow absolutely loved these sessions. Gerald stifled a laugh at the drugged look on the small hedgehog’s face - eyes half-lidded, mouth slightly open but purring contently, it was obvious he wasn’t paying attention to what was being said. Maria, blissfully unaware, went on reading from her tome and pointing at the illustrations.

“Look at this, Shadow:‘Hedgehogs place great pride on the aesthetic of their spines. In fact, in some regions of the world, they’re referred to as “crowns”. Partaking in spine grooming is both a solitary and social activity in hedgehog culture, and is viewed as a sign of trust. When it comes to gender differences, it’s common for the males to have longer spines’-” 

“My dear, I don’t think he’s listening,” said Gerald, taking a seat by her side.

Maria blinked, and looked down so her hair cascaded all around the hedgehog’s head. “Shadow..? Wh…are you asleep?”

Shadow came to with a snore, startling himself out of his spell. “Mmnnooo-!”

“Okay, okay - sorry I stopped, your highness!” Maria laughed, voice like bells. She kissed the hedgehog’s head and went back to brushing his fur. “We’ll take a break. It is a big book.” 

“I was just talking to Miss Promen, and she’s over the moon with your biology paper,” said Gerald. “In fact, she’s so impressed she told me to ask you if you want to skip ahead to the advanced course.”

“The one on Chao and Wisps?” asked Maria eagerly, and squealed when her grandfather nodded. 

“And you, Shadow,” he turned to the hedgehog. “You’ll be joining Maria and Abraham in school next month. But now it’s time for bed, both of you, and no staying up under the sheets.”

“Wait, I still haven’t taken today’s measurements!” Maria picked up her companion, who wrapped his small arms and legs around her adorably, and carried him over to the dresser where she kept her supplies. Setting him down at the measuring wall, she began noting changes on her clipboard, from his height, to the breadth of his spines, to the size of his tail. Gerald watched his creation simply exist in the moment, basking in Maria’s affections.

Shadow was coming along very well, but even after two months, he didn’t speak a lot, despite having a vocabulary far beyond other hedgehogs his age. He also often seemed to struggle to find the right words to express his innermost thoughts, but Gerald wasn’t too concerned for now - that was to be expected of a young being new to the world, even one developing as fast as Shadow was. 

Indeed, school would definitely speed up the Ultimate Lifeform’s social skills, the Professor concluded; Shadow was very intelligent, but showed little interest in much outside of Maria. In fact, Maria and himself were the only two people Shadow really interacted normally with. With the others...it ranged from giving short answers to outright not responding. 

It didn't help that life on the ARK was isolating. Adults could tolerate living in such a secluded environment so far removed from Earth for long periods. But a growing child…

Unlike Maria, Shadow has never known Earth. He had no frame of reference - only an abstract understanding of what life is like. Everything the hedgehog knew came from Maria and Gerald. 

He saw what a garden looked like in Maria’s books, but had no idea what relaxing in one felt like. He was taught by Gerald that the sun was important to sustain life on the planet, but didn’t really comprehend the fleeting nature of life; he’d never so much as seen a blade of grass die. He’d never even met another hedgehog. It was impossible for his young mind to truly understand the vastness of the universe without experiencing it.

It did not seem fair; Gerald expected the world from Shadow, but the only world Shadow knew was Maria, Gerald, and the ARK.

In what felt like no time, the man was pulled out of his musings as Maria and Shadow got back into bed and under the blankets, looking at him expectantly. Gerald smiled and didn’t even bother to remind them that Shadow should be sleeping in his own quarters where the Project’s team could observe him. His stern head researcher, Dr. Regen, had voiced his displeasure with the Professor’s ‘cavalier’ handling of the Ultimate Lifeform over and over again. 

But there were perks to being the principal scientist of your own space colony. Made in your image. 

Professor Gerald Robotnik thought he earned the right to do what he wanted when it came to his own creation.  

“Mrs. Bead’s gonna die when she knows I let you sleep in my bed again~,” Maria giggled to her companion, as if reading her grandfather’s thoughts. “‘Oh my goodness, Miss Maria!’” she began in an impression of her kindly-but-nervous caretaker. “You can’t use your brushes on the Ultimate Lifeform, it’s unhygienic!’ ‘Noo, Miss Maria! Don’t carry the Ultimate Lifeform, his powers are unpredictable, you could get hurt!’ ‘Miss Maria, pleeaaase - you tell him to stop hiding under your bed and making strange noises at me, he won’t listen to anything I say!”

“Hmph.” was all Shadow said, making his disinterest in the elderly woman’s opinions clear. Then he wriggled in Maria’s arms to make himself more comfortable. 

“Which story shall we read tonight?”

“King Arthur,” piped up Shadow.

“King Arthur? But we just finished that one a couple days ago.”

“Again,” insisted Shadow. 

“He really likes Sir Lancelot,” murmured Maria sleepily. She nuzzled Shadow’s head. 

He picked up the book and began reading. Maria laid propped up on her arm, blankets up to her head, left arm wrapped around Shadow while the hedgehog began to purr again, hands wrapped around her arm and spines splayed every which way. He watched Gerald while he told the story and gave each character a different voice for dramatic effect - and only came out of his captivated state to protest if Gerald mistakenly used the wrong voice for the wrong character. 

Unbidden, his own sons’ young faces flashed before his eyes - an old memory, as they eagerly waited for him to get back from the lab to read to them. He ran his hand over the sleepy Shadow’s head, giving him an affectionate stroke across the cheek. 

It felt like only yesterday that he’d looked upon this creature with scorn, a reminder of the defilement of life that he’d committed when he agreed to Black Doom’s deal. But now, all he could see was a small boy who was trying to understand his place in the world. 

He’d made the right choice, Gerald believed more and more with every passing day, by bringing Shadow into the world where he could experience love and internalize it. 

Shadow would not be Black Doom’s soldier. 

He would not be humanity’s weapon, either. 

Shadow would be Shadow. And he would be a beacon of hope, a champion of life. Him and Maria, together they would change the world. And Gerald would be nothing but proud.

And when morning came, along with it came Mrs. Bead barging into Gerald’s suite as he sat with his morning coffee. “Professor-!” she cried, red-faced. “Pleeaase, you speak with Miss Maria! She let the Ultimate Lifeform sleep in her bed again! I about had a heart attack!” 

Gerald hid his smile in his cup.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Another couple months passed, and Shadow’s growth remained on track with Gerald’s trajectory. Rapid - and not without some challenges, but stable. 

Not a single mutation; Black Doom had not lied when he said his DNA would channel Chaos energy without issue.

With Shadow’s growth, the tests become more straining, but his astounding immunity against every pathogen injected into his bloodstream filled the research team with hope. They were even ahead of schedule, and Gerald was confident it was time to prepare for the procedure. When he created Shadow, the theory was that his blood could be used to treat Maria - the fact that he also carried some of Maria’s cells should further improve compatibility. It was a sound theory.

This was it. After years of stress and frustration and what could only be likened to trying to carve on water, they attempted the very first blood transfusion between Gerald Robotnik’s greatest creation - the Ultimate Lifeform, and Maria. 

It went absolutely nowhere.

The transfusion only took a toll on the already-frail Maria, making her even weaker and bedridden afterwards. Dr. Regen and his team furiously analyzed and re-analyzed Shadow’s protein structure, blood components and cellular insulation, but nobody could figure out the problem. 

They performed tests on the hedgehog for hours, sending him back and forth to his quarters for further observation, denying his requests to visit Maria in the sickbay. Some of the scientists felt terrible, seeing the mental toll all of this was taking on Shadow, and his clear loneliness, but Regen shot down every suggestion to consider the hedgehog’s psychological needs or allow him to visit his friend.

Gerald was up to his eyeballs in problems of his own. The Federation couldn’t have picked a worse time to begin sniffing around for their promised weapon. 

Wanton war dogs, Gerald thought with revolt, sitting at the screen in the ARK’s Communication Chamber - the last place he wanted to be while his granddaughter was bedridden - barely hiding his contempt as he talked with yet another of the President’s cabinet members. He felt no qualms seeing people like them as beneath him, and felt no guilt lying. 

It didn’t make it any more bearable that this cabinet lackey actually had more than two brain cells. 

“..Professor,” God, even the man’s cadence sounded slimy in Gerald’s ears. “Over the course of five years, you’ve received what amounts to a small country’s GDP in funding. And you’re trying to convince me you haven’t created a single viable weapon? Not one? With a mind like yours? And a team of the brightest minds on the planet?”

“As I already explained, Project Shadow was a catastrophic failure,” gritted Gerald. “The salamander we used grew exponentially to the point where its organs were failing under its own weight.”

“Yes, yes, you made that point,” said the man dismissively. “What happened after that?”

“Regrettably, we had to euthanize it,” lied Gerald. I’ll need a whole other goddamn log to keep all these fabrications straight, he thought to himself irritably. 

“No, obviously,” said the man. “I meant what’s become of the next animal for the project? ”

“We’re still researching a suitable candidate.”

“..I see. I’ll have you know, there is considerable talk of freezing Project Shadow entirely. It’s probably for the best but nevertheless - if it were to continue for the foreseeable future, what species are you considering? ”

“Undetermined.” Throw them off Shadow’s scent. Gerald didn’t want these dogs within the planet’s radius of Shadow. Not when he was still so young and pure-minded. “Like I said, we’re still considering our options.” 

“You mean to tell me that there’s been nothing since the prototype for the past fifteen months?” said the man nasally, his disbelief blatantly obvious. “I find that very hard to believe, Professor. Maybe from a lesser man, but not the Gerald Robotnik.”

“Just because this project is behind schedule doesn’t mean I’m not honoring my end of the agreement,” said Gerald, thinking fast. It felt like he was building a castle of cards. “I’m making progress in another project, grander than Project Shadow. This will be the ultimate weapon - with it the United Federation would rule the planet. Inform the President that progress on the Eclipse Cannon is going well.”

Throw them off Shadow’s scent.

The man still looked skeptical, but with people like him, greed always overtakes. “I know nothing of this project. In what w-”

“On second thought - due to the highly-sensitive nature of the information surrounding it, I will speak directly to the President,” said Gerald shortly, getting up. “Now excuse me, I must return to my team immediately. Good evening, Mr. Barlowe.”

He didn’t wait for the man to respond, and terminated the call, swearing profusely. Barlowe wasn’t a complete numbskull, unlike his predecessors, but Gerald’s patience was wearing thin and if the call had gone any longer, he would’ve said something he could regret. Bringing up the Cannon at all was already a very risky move.

Irrational. He wasn’t normally like this.

Throw them off Shadow’s scent.

The more Barlowe tried to bring the conversation (no, interrogation) back to Shadow, the shorter Gerald’s fuse went. The idea of Shadow being a tool under anyone’s control was becoming repulsive, unacceptable. He wasn’t gonna let it happen. Shadow may be a marvelous creation to the research team, but to Gerald, Shadow was also a part of him.

Well , well…who’d have thought.. He thought to himself, suppressing a rueful laugh. This ended up happening faster than I thought.

He rushed to the sickbay, and to his immense relief, Maria was already sitting upright in the bed. A tray of food sat untouched in her lap. Mrs. Bead sat by her side, fork in hand, begging the girl to take a bite. The moment he saw her, the stress was temporarily banished to a corner, and he rushed to her side for an embrace. 

“Grandfather! Thank goodness! What’s going on, is everything alright?!”

“Of course, dear, all’s well. I had to appease a group of f…politicians. They can be quite dangerous to talk to,” he said dismissively, running a hand through her hair affectionately. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come earlier. How are you feeling now?”

“But…if Shadow’s not with you, where is he?” she asked urgently. “Mrs. Bead’s saying they've been running tests on him ever since I was here but it’s been a whole day! What’re they doing till now?”

Gerald was surprised. “He’s still in the lab?”

“I need to see him. He must be so upset.” 

“I’ll go see what’s going on. You settle down and eat.”

“Uh-uh.. I don’t feel like putting anything in my mouth. My stomach’s very unsettled,” said Maria, leaning her head back against the propped pillows. 

“Oh love, it must be the aftermath of the transfusion,” began Mrs. Bead in a kind voice. “It’s alright, the research team are doing their best to understand what’s wrong with the Ultimate Li- ”

Maria shook her head, face pinched. “There’s nothing wrong with Shadow, Mrs. Bead -” she began, then paused, eyes growing anxious. She quickly turned back to her grandfather. “Grandfather-! What if Dr. Regen’s giving him a hard time?”

“Now, my dear,” said Gerald reassuringly. “I know Dr. Regen’s..tenacity can be exhausting, but he’s a brilliant man and knows what he’s doing. Nevertheless, I’m going down there right now to make sure everything’s going well.”

“He doesn’t treat Shadow fair,” insisted Maria. “He doesn’t think he needs to rest, or eat, or play or just hang out with me like a normal kid! And Dr. Tower - Dr. Tower doesn’t like him, and Abe doesn’t like him because his dad doesn’t! It’s not fair. They’re keeping him away, I know they are.”

“You rest,” said Gerald again, standing up. “I’ll go fetch him.”

Truth be told, he’d definitely expected to see Shadow with Maria. The fact that he wasn’t there was completely out of character. Concerned, he sped up his pace, making for the elevators that connect to the southwest wing of the ARK. 

The doors slid open and he strode down the long, calmly-lit, quiet main hallway. It was getting late, and not a whole lot of the colony’s staff were out. And even though he was on the other side of the Earth’s view, he could still see the faint glimmering of the Aurora Borealis out the corner of his eyes peeking from the farthest windows. 

He finally reached the lab’s doors - and immediately sensed the energy the moment they slid open and he walked in. 

“Professor-! Thank goodness!” said Regen over a backdrop of the team’s relieved exclamations. “I’ve about had it with the Ultimate Lifeform - he’s being uncooperative!”

“What happened?” Gerald didn’t know if he was intrigued, or worried. “Where is he?”

“In his quarters. We practically had to drag him in.”

“We aren’t finished with the procedures, but he stopped responding to any instructions-” one other scientist began to explain.

“That’s not even the real issue here!” an angry voice came from behind him, and Gerald turned to see Dr. Tower storm towards him. “Professor, what happened can’t be ignored - we are on the cusp of a security hazard and we must neutralize it before it becomes too dangerous to control!”

“Whatever are you talking about…?” sighed Gerald, feeling a headache coming on. 

“He nearly attacked me!”

“…But, he didn’t?”

“It’s - no that’s not the point! The fact that he considered it is the problem!”

Gerald remained stoic. What he was hearing was very concerning but it sounded nothing like the hedgehog. Shadow had massive strength due to the Chaos energy stored in his cells, and...it technically wasn’t an impossibility for a being with all this stored power to become irritable and aggressive over time even with the Black Arms DNA as a stabilizer but…Shadow’s temperament remained quite tender. “What provoked this? Shadow wouldn’t attack for no reason.”

“Professor,” a softer voice spoke up, it was one of the younger interns. “He was getting more and more stressed over Miss Maria’s condition. He wanted to see her but wasn’t allowed until we could figure out why the transfusion failed. But we’re no closer to learning anything than we were this morning.”

“..You’ve been running tests on him since then without reprieve?” said Gerald abruptly, an edge seeping into his voice despite his calm exterior. “Not even letting him have the comfort of knowing that Maria is alright?”

“I..” said the scientist nervously. “I did..propose the idea to Dr. Regen, but-”

“I declined because it’s a preposterous waste of time,” said Regen tersely. “ You hired me to give you results, Professor, and that’s what I intend to do. The priority right now is to find the problem so we can cure your granddaughter. That’s the most important thing, that’s the whole point of this being’s existence! What changed?”

“He’s a confused child who may be thinking it’s his fault Maria is bedridden because that’s how everyone’s been handling the situation from where I stand,” said Gerald, coldly. The younger researchers especially seemed to shrink back in embarrassment. Some looked mortified, even close to tears to be in a position where the genius they idolized looked down on them.

“That is no excuse to go against my orders,” said Regen. “And definitely no excuse to intimidate any member of the staff who literally brought him into the world.”

“Let me view the tapes.”

They played the footage, skipping many hours ahead to when an exhausted, clearly-upset Shadow began to not comply. He ignored orders, walked away from flustered interns, and even stood up to Tower, motioning towards the door leading out into the hallway and even taking a step towards it. Tower, done with the hedgehog’s stubbornness, grabbed him by the arm to pull him back - and strands of yellow Chaos energy crackled along Shadow’s quills as his spines flared out. 

The man blanched, and pulled back like he was burned, cradling his injured hand in the other. His mouth moved angrily, shouting and motioning at the hedgehog wildly. The other scientists began to move in closer, and Shadow was backed up against the wall, trying to keep everyone in his range of sight, ears back, eyes large, nose flared-

“..It seems to me, Dr. Tower, you alarmed him,” said Gerald, voice deceptively calm. “He only reacted reflexively, exactly like a young hedgehog would.”

“But then he bared his teeth and hissed at me! Look!”

“Another completely normal reaction for an overwhelmed young hedgehog. I can’t believe I have to explain this to you, Doctor. Even young Abraham learned this in school.”

The man’s face turned an abashed red. “It - we had to force him into his quarters, Professor..! Please don’t make light of this - the footage doesn’t do justice to how terrifying it was!”

“..He’s growing, Professor, and with it his strength,” spoke Regen, trying to bring some calm back to the room. “The truth of the matter is, none of us know how his…blood will inform his behaviour in the future. Today, it was a gash. Tomorrow, it could be someone’s life. 

“The fact that he’s beginning to show this.. aggressive - this..insubordinate behaviour means we must handle him much more strictly from now on. I strongly advise that he be kept in his quarters when not in testing, and not be allowed free movement on the ARK, and definitely nowhere near Miss Maria.”

This was a tricky position. He wasn’t gonna lie to himself, Gerald was not only relieved, but proud that Shadow showed some rebellion; in a grim world where everyone wanted to use him, he needed to be able to stand his ground and fight back, to have wants and desires of his own, to say no. 

This reaction - it was all his own pure instinct, too; Gerald had not taught Shadow that. He felt an intense surge of affection for the hedgehog. 

“That wouldn’t be necessary,” said Gerald finally. “It falls on myself and Maria to raise and educate Shadow. Yes, he’s growing very fast and that could lead to some unexpected behaviour. I’ll speak to him about this, make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

At the silence that ensued, Gerald calmly turned to look at Tower, who was staring open-mouthed at the head scientist. “That’s it?” he said incredulously. “You’ll give him a talk?”

“Yes, he’s very receptive to me. And I don’t believe in psychological punishment for children,” was Gerald’s backhanded comment. He could see one of the new young scientists he liked - Harry - hide his face behind a clipboard.

“Professor, please think about this,” sighed Regen, rubbing his head as if staving off a headache of his own. “We can’t treat the Ultimate Lifeform as a regular child. He is not-”

“I believe the man who’s actually raising him knows what he is,” said Gerald, voice clipped. “Unless there’s anything else you’d like to report, I’m taking Shadow for the remainder of the night.” 

Regen, having known the man for over two decades, hesitated, then gave a stiff, unhappy nod. He wisely remained silent. For all his aloof tenacity, Regen could read the genius very well.

The Professor was quite calm most of the time, but those who’ve worked with Gerald Robotnik closely knew he had a fiery temper.

And his fury…well, his fury was something else entirely. Regen knew that very well.

Tower didn’t.

“It’s not a child-!” snapped Tower. “That’s what it looks like on the outside so it’s not completely repulsive to everyone working with it! Why are you defending this abomination, sir?!”

The rational thing would’ve been to explain to the frazzled scientist why this was factually incorrect. The man was scared, after all, for himself and his team. They were handling a deceptively innocent-looking being with Chaos powers. It was completely understandable, there was no reason to feel any sort of way on the matter.

But Gerald Robotnik slowly turned his head towards Tower, and even though his eyes were completely concealed behind black glasses, Tower could feel his veins shrivel and his blood turn to ice. 

“What did you call him?” Gerald asked, smiling frozenly, voice no higher than a whisper. 

“What Patrick’s trying to say-!” swooped in Regen, sensing the rare but terrifying Robotnik Crazy rear its head. “- is that we’ll make serious considerations for the Ultimate Lifeform’s growth and behavioral changes that come with it from now on. We’ll work with him the way you see fit, Professor.”

Gerald brushed past the both of them and the rest of the wide-eyed researchers (happy with tonight’s free entertainment, kids? thought Gerald grimly) and stopped in front of the device hung on the wall on the other side of the lab to scan his palm. The door to Shadow’s quarters slid open. 

Gerald hated embarrassing colleagues - they’re all dignified men and women dedicating their life to science, after all. He always made it a point to avoid overriding other senior colleagues’ orders so brassily, as well, especially in front of young hires and interns. Yes, he knew he couldn’t control how people felt about Shadow, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t pissed off to the point he didn’t give a shit. 

Damn, he really liked Dr. Tower, too. How disappointing. 

Any passing thought of making an apology to his colleagues flew out the window when he saw Shadow sitting on his small bed, with his knees to his chest, head nested in his arms, shaking, trying to hold in frustrated tears. 

For a moment, Gerald was so angry the enraged voice in his head told him to go out and rip Regen and his team a new one. The more rational side - the side that raised two boys in the past, said screw them go to the child. 

“Shadow.” he gently sat down next to the hedgehog, who lifted his head to look at him, startled.

“Professor..! The Doctors said - that I’m - Maria -”

“Everything’s alright, my boy. Maria’s going to be fine. She’s been asking for you and misses you.”

The young hedgehog’s entire body loosened, he looked up at him with so much desperate relief it nearly broke the man’s heart. Incredible what a few kind words could do. 

Like a kid who’s been waiting alone on the side of the road for his parent to finally arrive, Shadow propped himself up against Gerald’s thigh so his face was only an inch away. Gerald could see tiny teardrops still stuck to his lashes. “Did I do it wrong..? I did everything I was told but Maria’s still sick...are you disappointed?”

“In you? Absolutely not. You did everything right.”

Shadow’s brow furrowed, and seemed to struggle to find the words. Gerald stroked his head, silently encouraging him to speak. “We can’t - we can’t go to Earth until I cure her,” said Shadow. “..I don’t understand..I did all the tests Doctor Regen wanted but everyone just got angrier and angrier..especially Doctor Tower. And I was angry too, and I didn’t wanna do any tests anymore. Then…he grabbed my arm and…my spines did the thing Maria showed me in the book.”

“You were startled, and it was an accident. No one was hurt.”

“They said it’s not working because my blood is wrong. But you can fix it, right Professor? Can you fix my blood so the transfusion works next time?”

Gerald held the hedgehog’s chin so he was looking him dead in the eye. “No, Shadow,” said Gerald firmly. “The transfusion didn’t work because our research is still incomplete. It has nothing to do with you. Do you understand?”

Waiting patiently for the young hedgehog to process his words, he added: “You and Maria are more compatible than you know. When I created you, I intentionally made it so. And when Maria’s cured and we all return to Earth, you two will do incredible things together.” 

“..But I’m not like Maria,” said Shadow, looking away. “Or you. And..I’m not..I’m not from Earth.”

“Perhaps you weren’t born on Earth like Maria and me, but you belong there just as much,” said Gerald. “You are my son, Shadow. You’re a part of us, and even though living on Earth is different from living on the ARK, you’re more than capable of it. And no matter what trouble you face, me and Maria will always be there for you. We love you.”

Shadow seemed to not know what to say, and instead, curled up into Gerald’s side as if trying to hide from the idea of that alien blue planet below everybody kept talking about. 

“Can we go see Maria now?” he pleaded after a few moments, small voice shaking.

“Yes. I’m sorry it took me so long to come get you,” he said gently, taking the hedgehog’s hand. “Off we go.”

As expected, no one dared speak a word to Gerald as he walked out with the Ultimate Lifeform. He had to hand it to Dr. Regen, the man understood him well enough to warn everyone in the lab that if they so much as look Shadow’s way right now they’d probably all be fired. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tower hunched over the desk working on something - probably some task Regen gave him to get him out of Gerald’s way.

When they finally got back to the sickbay, Shadow let go of Gerald’s hand and ran up to Maria’s bed, who threw her arms around him, and he practically melted in her embrace. Gerald took the seat by them, and gently pulled Maria - and Shadow still tightly held in her arms - to rest against his chest in a hug. He held their small, warm hands in his own.

Even though this transfusion attempt was a failure, they would learn from it. The next time would be a success, he was sure of it.

But he was wrong.

- To be continued -

Chapter Text

Abraham couldn’t for the life of him understand what Maria and the Professor saw in that thing.

He didn’t want to be anywhere near it… him - Maria forbade him from referring to Shadow as an it - but when the Professor himself ordered that the creature attend school, what could Abraham do? He had no choice but to be in his vicinity for hours at a time. 

He didn’t want to be anywhere near him, and yet...he couldn’t stop looking at Shadow the first few times he saw him. In spite of the fear, his young mind couldn’t help but marvel at how the genius Professor was able to create a living, breathing creature with eyes, ears, lungs, a heart..

He looked exactly like a hedgehog, but Abraham knew it was a trick. He wasn’t a real hedgehog; it was just what he looked like on the outside to conceal the - the monster used to make him. 

Shadow, with his quiet but intense gaze, and strange red irises; they reminded the uneasy boy of a predator - nothing like the shy, cute, real hedgehogs back on Earth. He even had vivid red patches around his eyes, and sharp red stripes that cut harshly through his jet black fur like warning markers. 

Like a poisonous animal, thought Abraham. 

Even though Shadow had been alive for less than six months, he was growing really fast, his ears already past Maria’s knees and gaining on her lower hip level. His growth was showing both physically and intellectually - the thing hadn’t been in school for a few weeks and could already solve problems Abraham used to struggle with all class when he was younger.

And the audacity of this freak - doing it while sitting in that stupid little highchair looking bored, too - only smiling when Maria would gush at his smarts and love on him, pushing him to do more. He could do no wrong in her eyes, and it nearly drove Abraham out of his mind. 

It made no sense, but he couldn’t deny it. Even he, a kid, noticed what the adults have for a while now.

Maria was spending less time in the sickbay. Her crippling (literally) migraines had not flared up as much. Her hearing was better. She didn’t need to use her walker as often anymore, for her joints no longer stiffened and locked up as much.  Her mental well-being was much improved, and it trickled somewhat into her physical health. Professor Gerald would refer to it as the ‘Unseen’, but Abraham was sure his dad and the other adults didn’t really understand what he was talking about.  

Abraham understood that Shadow was made by the Professor to cure Maria, but why in the world was such a dangerous thing allowed to be near her? The boy just didn’t get it. Was it fascination with his creation? Maria was so much smarter than him when it came to science, after all. Was that it..? Or was she just trying to be on the freak’s good side so he doesn’t kill her when they try another transfusion? 

No, it didn’t make sense. 

No one would put that kind of effort; Maria brushed his fur every day. Bathed him. Read to him. Cuddled him lovingly, like he was the most precious thing in her world. She was even working with the Professor on some type of Chaos-powered shoes that’ll apparently improve his mobility, make him able to cover the width of the ARK from east to west in less than 20 seconds.

Did Maria…did Maria have any idea what Shadow really was?

Abraham did, and he sure as hell wished he didn’t…

_______________

…

He never meant to go into the Restricted Wing of the ARK. 

He knew he wasn’t allowed there, he’d just..lost track running after his ball through the halls, playing some more by himself after Maria had gone to bed. 

One thing about living on a space colony - people develop very sharp hearing. The typically quiet, isolated environment made one’s ear that much more sensitive - picking up new sounds easily.

The hall was empty, but he heard a foreign, gravelly voice he couldn’t recognize, followed by one he could immediately place - Professor Gerald’s quiet response. Curiosity getting the better of him, he stood up on his toes to look through the glass window into a dimly-lit lab…

What he saw gave him nightmares for days afterwards.

He ran like hell back to his parents’ room - ball completely forgotten, where he threw himself in his bewildered mother’s arms, lungs on fire, crying his eyes out. He tried to explain the horrific sight he’d witnessed, but didn’t think his parents really understood through his breathless, panicked babbling. 

It didn’t help his case that Abraham, in his terror-clouded mind, could hardly remember what was going on or being said. All he could remember was the monster he saw -

He looked like the demon of hellish nightmare, taller than two grown men, with massive horns and spikes adorning his head, terrifying clawed hands and three eyes on his flat, alien face. Strange grooves ran across the face where a nose and mouth should be, meeting together in the middle. He had no legs that the boy could see - he floated where he was, and the energy surrounding him - was this raw Chaos energy? - stuck to his black-and-red body, emitting a vileness he didn’t know the words to describe.

But the most unnerving thing about the alien was that he spoke despite having no mouth. Yet the guttural voice most definitely came from deep within the creature. Abraham didn’t understand how that was possible. 

The only thing he could remember was the alien monster saying something about helping the Professor make a creature that can channel Chaos energy without dying or losing its mind. The Professor’s fewly-worded acceptance. 

“𝞐 𝔭𝐞𝖗𝖋𝐞𝒄𝐭 𝒗𝖏𝒄𝖆𝖗 𝙪𝙣𝐭𝖏𝒍 𝐥 𝖗𝐞𝐭𝙪𝖗𝙣 𝐭ℴ 𝐭ℎ𝖏𝙨 𝔭𝒍𝖆𝙣𝐞𝐭٫” the monstrosity continued in his unearthly tongue. “𝑹𝐞𝔪𝐞𝔪b𝐞𝖗, 𝐆𝐞𝖗𝖆𝒍𝗱܂ 𝞐 𝔪𝖆𝒍𝐞. 𝗬ℴ𝙪 ℎ𝖆𝒗𝐞 𝙣ℴ 𝒄ℎℴ𝖏𝒄𝐞.” 

Anything and everything that was said afterwards was completely forgotten in the wake of what Abraham saw next. 

The Chaos energy around the alien began to shift and curl, spiking to the point that Abraham could feel it through the fortified walls. Then the strange grooves on the monster’s face began to ripple.  “𝖏𝐭 𝖏𝙨 𝖗𝐞𝖆𝗱𝒚.” The monster uttered. He almost sounded like he was laughing.

The grooves rippled faster, and then began to pull apart, and something like a black hole began to open wide in the middle of the creature’s face. 

Rows of hundreds of needle sharp teeth lined the hole-like mouth in a full circle. Something strange began to crawl out of the gape. It looked like a leech, with claws and a massive red-yellow eye in the middle. Its sharp limbs thrashed to pull itself out of the hole, and it fell into the Professor’s extended hands. Abraham couldn’t see the Professor’s face from where he was observing, but he could see the way the man’s shoulders bunched up in revolt, how he struggled to make his hands close around the vile, wet larva. Mucus-like ooze dripped from his shaking hands onto the floor. The alien laughed and laughed.

Abraham must’ve blacked out after that, because the only thing he could remember next was the monster’s derisive, mocking laughter still echoing in his head, layered with the sound of his own screaming as he burst into his family’s living quarters. 

His mother tried to soothe him, even let him sleep between her and his dad in the bed, but there was no rest for little Abe that night. He kept waking up, screaming, and holding onto her, telling her what he saw again and again, trying to make her understand, but she would shush and hug him tightly till he calmed down and dozed. 

Morning came after too long, and Patrick practically had to pry himself out of his son’s clutches when his communication device beeped.

“All primary personnel on Project Shadow must report to Professor Robotnik immediately,” the pleasant feminine voice said, mocking Abraham’s panic.  “Repeat, all project researchers to the Restricted Wing.”

His dad was going there. To where Professor Gerald and the monster were. Abraham begged him not to go. His dad, who could be impatient and hot-tempered (a trait his mom exasperatedly claimed they both shared), nevertheless cupped his face gently and told him he’s got nothing to be afraid of. That he’ll be back, and he’ll make sure there are no monsters on the ARK for him. He promised him that there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to make sure he and Mom were safe. 

He left, and Abraham waited. And waited. And waited..

His dad was gone for hours. Abraham didn’t know what to think, he started to sob. 

“Sweetheart, everything is alright,” his mom said, setting the lunch tray on the table and running her hand through his hair comfortingly. “If anything was wrong, I’d have gotten a message on my beeper. Everyone’s just extremely busy. If anything, Dad being late could be a good thing. Maybe they’re making progress on Maria’s cure.” 

Unlike him and his dad, his mom was always so calm. Very little alarmed her. The Professor liked her for it, even joked that a science team always needed cool heads like her so they don’t all end up killing themselves or each other. Abraham didn’t think the joke was so funny anymore.

His mom tried to distract him with books, puzzles, and even chores, but Abraham couldn’t focus. He wanted to see Maria. He felt like if he didn’t tell her he’d explode; he needed to tell her what he saw. 

But the annoying thing about moms - they seem to know what you’re planning to do a lot of the time.

“Not now, honey,” she said, denying him leave when he tried to go out. “You two could meet up and play later tonight when Dad comes back.”

“Why do I have to wait for Dad?” was his frustrated question. This was never a rule before. “I thought everything was alright-!”

“It is,” his mom said vaguely, “But we gotta make sure there are no monsters on the ARK, right? We’re waiting for him to assure us it’s all safe.” 

“But what about Maria?! The Professor’s in the lab with the monster and she doesn’t-!”

“The Professor’s perfectly fine, and Maria’s safe with Mrs. Bead. See, I’ll call her right now.” 

Unclipping the device that was always on her person, his mother raised the small device and clicked a few buttons. “Hello? Yes, it’s great to hear your voice!” 

Abraham stared in bewilderment - he couldn’t understand how chipper his mother could be in the face of an alien demon amongst them on the ARK. Why were adults so…so weirdly unbothered sometimes? “Yeah, yeah, still on time off…of course, dear, thank you! And how’s Maria doing? Oh, I’m so glad to hear that! Yes, absolutely! ..Yes, I think so. Wonderful, tonight then - Abe’s looking forward to it…Oh, please do, I have three whole trays of cookies in the oven right now and I’m not responsible for what happens if you don’t. Haha, lovely! Alright, see you tonight.” 

She ended the call and turned to him. “Maria’s doing better today and we can all meet tonight for tea time. I told you, honey, there’s nothing to be worried about. Dad will come back to confirm everything’s alright.”

Finally, around six in the evening, Abraham heard the long-awaited click of their suite door opening, and his father’s footsteps. Flying from under his comforter, he rushed to the entrance to see his mom already there, talking with his dad in hushed tones. What were they talking about?

He searched his dad’s face - he didn’t seem to be frightened, but there was an uneasiness to his expression, like he was sick. His face was whiter than normal, and his forehead was creased with stress. 

“Dad!” he hollered, throwing his arms around him. “Is he still there? The alien?”

His dad hesitated, and he and his mom exchanged a look. Abraham’s heart dropped. “D-did he eat someone?!”

“No, son, nothing like that,” His dad kneeled so that he could look him in the eye, and placed his hands  on his shoulders. “I was in the lab all day with the Professor, researching a cure for Maria.”

“Yes but did you see the monster there-!”

“There was no monster,” his dad said assertively, as if it would bring Abraham peace and let him drop the subject. “Not anywhere on the ARK.”

“Yes, there was!” yelled Abraham, feeling betrayed. “I didn’t imagine him! And he gave the Professor a little alien bug! I saw it-!” 

“I’m not finished,” his dad interrupted. “There was no monster there, but I believe you. Abe, listen very carefully to what I’m about to tell you: you can’t speak to anyone about what you saw. This is a very important matter between the Professor and the government. You’re not supposed to know about it, only me and Mom and the Professor and our team. You can never tell anyone else. Nor can I nor your Mom. Do you understand?”

The government? What did the government have to do with anything? He knew he was just a kid but did his dad think he was stupid?

“But-!”

“Do as I say,” said his father, tone final, standing up and walking towards the bedroom. “And everyone will be safe.”

“How? What abou-!”

“Abraham. Listen to your father,” his mom said. 

The boy wanted to rip out his hair. What was wrong with the grown ups?! “What about Maria-!”

“Only the Professor can tell Maria,” his mom said, uncharacteristically terse. “Promise me now, Abe, that you won’t talk about this to anyone. This is a very important secret only the Professor can tell.” 

“Why? Why?! I don’t understand!” shouted Abraham, tears prickling the corners of his eyes again. If they believed the monster was real, why was everyone trying to keep it quiet? Weren’t they worried someone could get hurt?

“You will someday. This is a very important secret only the smartest scientists on the ARK can handle right now,” said his mother. It didn’t answer his questions at all. “And that includes your dad. I need to explain something else to you, Abe - as you grow up, you’ll realize that one of the most important things is to be trustworthy, because people will only respect you if you’re a man of your word. So when the Professor trusts me with a secret, I tell no one. When Dad trusts me with a secret, I tell no one. Breaking someone’s trust is a very serious thing, and can never be fixed. I know you’re telling the truth about what you saw. I trust you. But now, we must respect the Professor’s wishes. We are not to speak of this to anyone, only the Professor can. Understood?”

Abraham could feel burning in the back of his throat. He was angry. He was upset. He didn’t think it was right. He understood what trust is, but he didn’t see how keeping the alien monster a secret helped anyone. 

And what if they were wrong? What if he was still hiding somewhere? The ARK was huge, there were so many places he could hide, so many corridors he could sneak through. That’s why Abraham and Maria didn’t play hide and seek - it wasn’t a fair game. 

And where was the leech that came out of the monster’s mouth now? How was the Professor going to use it? How was that disgusting thing supposed to be a cure for Maria? There was no way the Professor would let her eat or drink it, right..? It was a leech. Surely the adults weren’t that gross.

But they’re all crazy, thought the boy, feeling a little hysterical. Maybe they would feed it to Maria; every adult on this colony was crazy, and the craziest one of all was the Professor. But…Professor Gerald adored her, surely he wouldn’t..?

Abraham was still scared, but he trusted his mom and dad to protect him. If there was one thing he believed, it was that they’d never stand aside if they thought this thing would hurt him.

But what about Maria? When will she know?

And whatever it was the Professor intended to do with the insect, it couldn’t be scarier than the nightmares. Right?

He was wrong. Oh he was so wrong.

Because not even in his craziest nightmares did the Professor make a freak out of it and then allow it to sleep in Maria’s bed. In her arms.

_______________

…

“Shadow,” Miss Promen’s voice pulled Abraham out of his memories. “Can you tell us what a Chaos Drive is?”

“..Chaos Drives are crystallized energy made from the Chaos emeralds. They can be used as batteries to power many types of machines.”

“That’s right! Very good, Shadow!...Abraham, please stop gnashing your teeth.”

“You’re asking him easy questions,” he grumbled, resisting the growing urge to crumple his test paper and storm out of the classroom. Why was their teacher so enamored with this creature?

“He’s younger than you, of course he’s getting easier questions. There’s a lot he still doesn’t know.” 

Maria, sitting right next to the hedgehog, leaned over and pointed at his paper. “Write your answer down here so it gets added to the score,” she said sweetly, a tender smile on her face. 

Shadow tilted his head. “But I already answered. Why do I need to write it?”

“So Miss Promen doesn’t forget to add it to your score, silly!”

Shadow didn’t seem at all concerned with that. “But I already proved I understood...” However, one look at Maria’s expectant face and he began writing it down anyway.

“Now, Maria: can you tell me a little bit about the Platycodon Grandiflorus, and its significance in some cultures?”

Maria, like the eager student she was, sat up straight and immediately began: “Platycodon Grandiflorus, known colloquially as Balloon Flower, grows naturally in the East, mostly near ponds and lakes, and is typically blue, or more rarely a bluish shade of purple,” she recounted faithfully from her beloved book, Creatures of Our Earth. “They have a lot of meaning in many cultures, and are a part of gift-giving language amongst many creatures on Earth. They symbolize truth, and endless love..they’re my favorite.”

“Always eloquent and well-spoken, just like the Professor. Great job.” Maria smiled, cheeks turning pink. And yet she sat up straighter in her chair, obviously pleased with herself.

Nerd, Abraham couldn’t help but think affectionately. He felt a pang of sadness, and another emotion he wasn’t ready to face just yet. He took another glance at the hedgehog, and felt that poisonous feeling trickle into his veins. 

Next up was their secondary language speaking exam - it was even worse than their science test.

“Hello, Abraham,” Miss Promen began her question in Spagonian. “I’m an exchange student from Station Square. Can you tell me how to reach Spagonia University? ”

“Certainly. The easiest way is by train. Take the B line downtown and make sure to hop off on the second stop after Market Street. It’s less than ten minutes on foot from there, you’ll be able to see the pillars,” he answered confidently. He might not be very good with science and math, but he knew he was great with languages; his grammar and accent had also improved a lot over the school year.

“Great job! Very good, Abe,” she wrote an 8/10 on the scoreboard. Not bad. Not bad at all, his mom was going to be very happy. 

“Now Shadow,” said the teacher, turning to the hedgehog. “I’m going to ask you what your name is and you have to say, ‘My name is Shadow’ in Spagonian. Are you ready?”

“What?! ” hollered Abraham before his brain could catch up with his mouth. “ Miss Promen, that’s so unfair!” 

“Abraham,” the woman said exasperatedly. “I’ll let this slide one more time. Then there won’t be a third time - it’ll be a conversation with your mother you won’t be looking forward to.” 

Then she leaned close to the hedgehog so he could watch her lips clearly.

“Whaat. Iis. Yoour. Naaeeem? ” she enunciated at the half-lidded hybrid.

“My name is Shadow,” said the hedgehog flatly.

“BRAVO! Wonderful performance! As expected of the Professor’s Ultimate Lifeform!” She wrote a massive 10/10 next to his name on the scoreboard with dramatic flair, so massive it ran over Abraham’s 8 and Maria’s 9. Maria squealed, clapped her hands and hugged the hedgehog tightly. Abraham wanted to scream.

Were all the adults on this colony insane? Or was this all some ass-kissing for the sake of the Professor? What the hell was going on? Why doesn’t Miss Promen just adopt the freak if she likes him so much? Then Abraham could finally just hang out with his best friend again, like they used to - without that thing leering at him all the time like it planned to kill him in his sleep.

“..Alright, kids,” announced Miss Promen. The end of class couldn’t arrive fast enough for the heterochromic boy.  “Last thing we’ll do today is some art, but first, these are your assignments for next week: Abe, I’ll give you a sheet of 20 math questions, they’ll help you improve on your equations. Maria, I’d like you to write an essay on Chao dietary habits. And Shadow - you can help Maria with the essay.”

Abraham bit back his tongue so hard he could almost feel teeth grind against each other through the flesh. Knowing full well he’d get punished if their teacher saw the hateful sparks shooting out of his eyes, he abruptly looked down and flung open his sketchbook to stare a hole into that instead. 

Professor Gerald said it was alright so long as he does the work with Maria, the teacher had explained to him when he went to her office in frustration after class one day. She’s submitting for the both of them and her assignments are always A+. If they’re both progressing albeit at different stages, the Professor is satisfied.

For several minutes he sat there, staring at the blank page as if trying to set it ablaze with fury alone. He grabbed the pencil, but pressed it so hard to the paper the tip snapped. Fighting the urge to say one of his dad’s Bad words out loud, he sharpened it furiously, ignoring the telltale signs of a familiar burning behind his eyes, and just put his energy into drawing. 

The theme they were given was ‘Flower Field’, but he didn't feel like drawing any flowers today. Instead, he found himself drawing the thing sitting next to his best friend dead. If there was nothing he could do to make Shadow disappear, Abraham was going to fantasize about it all he wanted and no one was going to stop him. Having to put up with both Miss Promen and his best friend - Maria’s supposed to be his best friend - acting as if this abomination was like the rest of them was driving him crazy. None of this was normal. Something horrible was going to happen because of this creature yet no one seemed to think it or care. 

Gripped with a vicious sense of schadenfreude, he began to do more of just that; sketch after sketch of the freak dying in all sorts of ways and finally getting his parasitic little claws off Maria. After a whole lot of creative, miserable deaths, he finished it off by drawing him also burning in Hell for good measure. 

He sat back to admire his drawings - this felt much better than lying sleepless in bed trying to come up with ineffective plans to make the freak go away; feeling anger felt a whole lot better than fear. Their teacher had had to excuse herself to take a call, but she was due back any minute, and so - reluctantly - he turned over a blank page to try and draw something related to the theme, though he soon got distracted watching Maria and Shadow from the corner of his eye.

Shadow had drawn the hastiest sketch Abraham had ever seen - it couldn’t have taken him more than three minutes - a human stick figure and a hedgehog stick figure lying in a field of flowers. 

..Or that was his assumption, anyway, it wasn’t like it was clear - the ‘flowers’ were just messy circles, the ‘grass’ was just some random triangles and vertical lines, and then there was a big circle overseeing the open space. It could’ve been the moon or the sun or even the ARK, he wasn’t entirely sure. Then the hybrid had quickly lost interest, and ignored his paper in favor of scooting closer to watch Maria create her much more elaborate drawing. He watched until his eyelids began to droop, chin resting on Maria’s arm. A strange, vibrating sound began to emit from him, alarming the boy, but only making Maria’s eyes grow softer as she leaned her head onto his.

“You know, Shadow,” Abraham heard her murmur in the hedgehog’s ears. “When we return to Earth, I’m gonna ask Father to take you to the flower field where we used to have picnics when I was little. It’s beautiful, especially at night. And we would watch the hedgehogs make bouquets to give to their loved ones. Flower-giving is such an important part of hedgehog culture. The right flower presented at the right time is like a contract, a promise of an everlasting bond between them.”

Shadow didn’t seem enraptured by any of that. He raised his head to look at her. “We’ll go together, right?” Was what he asked. 

“Of course, and I’m gonna help you pick out the perfect flowers to give.” Shadow seemed appeased with this answer, and leaned his chin back on her arm, watching her carefully-placed lines give shape to the balloon flowers she loved; they were dainty and pure in all the good ways, like the illustrations in her book. Like herself, thought Abraham.

Then she began to draw Shadow in the field, smiling and wearing a flower crown. She’d study him closely, peering into his content, dozy face, and put pencil to paper. Somehow, in her sketch he didn’t seem scary at all; not even the splashes of red around his eyes looked threatening. She drew him like someone draws their kohl; intimately, with attention and love. 

A twinkle of guilt began gnawing at Abraham’s chest. He looked back at his violent drawings, and imagined the look of horror on Maria’s face if she saw them. 

“And there’s a wonderful meadow right behind the family summer house in Spagonia,” he heard her continue. She began to sketch a tall windmill looming over the flowerbeds she’d drawn Shadow and herself lying in. “It’s huge and surrounded by those beautiful old windmills. There are over 200 of them there! It’s Grandfather’s summer house, but me and my parents and Uncle spent a whole summer there together and it was the most magical place. But..I got sick after that and never went again. Grandfather hasn’t since then, either. But if we - when we find the cure to my condition it’s gonna be the first place we go. You, me, Grandfather and the whole family!”

Shadow didn’t verbally answer, only made a sound indicating he’d heard her. He gazed at the strange, tall contraption she was drawing, trying to imagine its purpose. 

“Why aren’t you saying anything, you?” snapped Abraham. “Maria’s working really hard telling you about the Earth - the least you can do is show some interest!”

Maria looked up at him in surprise. “Abe..?”

“Like what’s this all about?” he went on. “The Professor made him to cure you and not only is he failing at that, he won’t put in the effort to study or do his own work or even respond when talked to-!” Once he began, he found he couldn’t stop. “Well if he doesn’t stop being a worthless little freak, he’s never gonna get anywhere on Earth - that’s if we even take him down with us!”

Maria stood up, face aghast. “Abe! Why are you saying things like that?!”

Abraham stood up as well, and noticed the creature stiffen, red eyes now fully alert, following his movements like a hawk. His heart pounded, a war between fear and long-suppressed anger. “Well, he is! He doesn’t care about anything you or Miss Promen teach him. You’re pouring your heart into that thing and babying him and for what! He doesn’t benefit you!” 

“He’s not ‘that thing’! His name is Shadow, and he needs love and positive reassurance just like any other child!” cried Maria. She stopped and took a shaky breath, biting her bottom lip as if to stop it from trembling - it made Abraham feel like a jerk. 

He risked a glance at Shadow again and quickly looked away, terror rising in his throat; Shadow was standing in his ridiculous little highchair looking murderous. Something in his eyes almost looked demented. “Don’t talk about him like he isn’t working really hard! Shadow spends a lot of time in tests, so of course he won’t always be able to do homework-” 

Abraham felt like he was suffocating - between Shadow’s stare-down and Maria’s distress over the feelings of her precious little monster, how could he tell her to stay away from the freak if he wasn’t allowed to mention it? It didn’t help that he was terrified of what he might do to him - to either of them - if Maria realized what he really was. Miss Promen was still out, there were no adults around if something happened. 

But he had to tell her. He had to protect her. The Professor has always been overly confident in Abraham’s eyes; the man thought he could do anything, and the boy was certain he was overestimating his ability to control this monster, if he allowed him to be so close to Maria all the time. It was going to put them all in danger. 

“Maria, there’s something I have to t-”

He took but two steps towards his friend and Shadow was off the chair faster than the boy could see. He stood in front of Maria, spines tensed, a warning sound coming from his throat.

Did the monster think he owned Maria now?! Over his dead body. “Hey-! Y-you think you scare me?!” shrieked Abraham, curling his hands into fists so the hybrid wouldn’t see them shaking. “Stay away from her or I’ll make you!”

Shadow snarled a warning and hissed at him, a guttural, spitting sound.

“..What the-!” Abraham was gobsmacked. And for a moment, his fear took a backseat and indignation took over. “How dare you-! Did - did you see what he just did!”

“Abe, please-!”

“How dare you talk to me like that! Didn’t Maria teach you it’s very rude to hiss in people’s faces!” 

“That’s how hedgehogs tell people to back. O𝖋f,” growled Shadow. There was a quality to his voice, and for a moment Abraham wasn’t quite sure why it sounded so familiar. But when his subconscious finally placed it, a shiver ran down his spine. 

It..he sounded like him. 

Even though Shadow’s voice was still a growing child’s there was already something about its intonation that was just like that monster -

“..But you wouldn’t know, with that essay you wrote on a napkin. Five. Minutes. Before class,” Shadow sneered, mocking the boy like he was slow. It took a moment for Abraham’s brain to catch up, and once more, affront took over fear. 

“Vulgar hedgehogs!” screeched Abraham, face bright red. “No self-respecting hedgehog hisses at people! That’s like spitting in someone’s face, even I know that! All the good it did - Maria’s wasting her time trying to teach you anything, you freak!”

Maria quickly covered Shadow’s ears with her hands. It would’ve almost been funny if Abraham wasn’t so angry. “Stop saying hurtful things to him!” she cried, tears springing to her eyes.

“I’m not gonna let him talk to me like that! Say you’re sorry, you ugly freak.”

Shadow bared his teeth, eyes blazing. For a terrifying moment, Abraham was sure he was going to attack him. But Maria quickly dropped to her knees and threw her arms around the hedgehog. Shadow started, and looked around at her, his spines relaxing almost immediately. 

“Stop it,” she said again, the stress making itself clear in her voice. “This is breaking my heart, I can’t stand to see you two like this!”

“I’m sorry,” Abraham was stunned to hear Shadow say. He’d forgotten about the boy, turning to focus wholly on Maria. The hybrid was gazing into her face, seemingly distressed at the droplets that had begun to collect at the corner of her eyes. The alien edge had gone from his voice. “I didn’t mean to make you sad. Please don’t be sad.”

Maria sniffed, holding back her tears, and gently leaned her forehead against the hedgehog’s. Abraham was so furious he let out a frustrated shout. Now the thing was flipping the table on him, playing the considerate friend?!

“Oh, now I’m the bad guy!” he said resentfully. “He started this whole thing by acting like a hedgehog from the streets! But what would he know about being a proper hedgehog, anyway-”

“That’s not fair, Abraham. You were mean to him for no reason, not everybody finds it easy to express themselves all the time!” Maria said, light blue irises full of hurt. Oh no, oh no, she called him Abraham. Not Abe. Oh, she was really upset. The sheen of tears still suspended in her eyes made the knife of guilt twist in his gut again. “But I know what’s in Shadow’s heart. I just do. He’s so gentle, and his heart’s so big. You’d see it too if you cared to know him.”

“I’m sorry. You know I’d never, ever mean to upset you,” Abraham said, injecting as much sincerity as he could while still seething from the fake hedgehog standing right there. There was no way he was going to apologize to Shadow, though; the freak had the gall to spit in his face and call him stupid. Maria and the Professor may enable him all they want but that didn’t mean he was going to lower his own guard or put up with it. 

He directed his next words at the hybrid. “Maria’s incredibly kind, and if you had any appreciation for her you’d at least carry yourself like she wants you to. And by the way - if you were actually listening to my essay you’d know you shouldn’t be walking around with your hands exposed like that,” he said testily. 

“That’s an incorrect misconception,” interrupted Maria gently. 

No no drop it drop it - not now, Maria! Abraham wanted to scream to the heavens. Why did she have to correct him while he was trying to put the ugly little freak in his place-!

“He’s still little, it’s not inappropriate,” she went on, voice a little spent, recounting her knowledge on hedgehog culture from her book. Abraham felt his ears grow hot in embarrassment. “And there are no other hedgehogs on the ARK, anyway. He’ll get his gloves soon. As for his shoes, they’ll be ready by the time his feet stop growing.” 

Arms still around Shadow, she rested her chin on top of his head. “You may not see it, but Shadow’s learning a lot. He’s really happy he’s with us in school. Look with your heart, look how happy he is.”

Abraham looked. He had no idea what Maria was on about - the freak wore the same resting bitch face he always did, only now he was smirking at him. Abraham had to fight the sudden, childish urge to bite him.

“..Abe,” spoke Maria after a moment of quiet, running a hand over her companion’s head. She sounded breathless, like this brief argument had tired her out. “I know we haven’t been playing as much as before. And it’s not fair…I’m really sorry.”

Abraham stared at her, not quite comprehending at first. “I know I’ve been very busy with Shadow these past months. I really miss our long story nights together..but he needs me right now. He’s still growing and needs attention and direction. Me and Grandfather are his family.” 

Was that…did she think the reason he wanted her away from this creature was because he was jealous she wasn’t hanging out with him as much anymore? He felt an even more intense sense of protectiveness; Maria shouldn’t feel any guilt over any of this. She really was too good for everyone here. 

He had no siblings of his own, but he’d always known that if he had an older sister, he wouldn’t want it to be anyone other than Maria. It didn’t matter what his parents or the Professor or anyone thought, he had to protect her from that thing.

The words tumbled out of his mouth like a hare escaping a fire. “Maria, please stay away from him. He’s - Shadow’s not a real hedgehog, he’s-”

Her reaction was immediate. Maria whirled the hybrid around and smooshed his face against her chest, and began to loudly shower him with kisses, smothering his surprised protests. “C’mere you~!” she teased, peppering his face with more kisses till he began complaining and trying to get away. 

“Hmmm, what’s that lovely scent?” she said in a song-song voice, pulling his head back in and nuzzling it when he tried to wriggle out of her grasp. “Oh, it’s my favorite lavender shampoo, right!” 

“Mariaaa-!”

“Shadooow-!” she teased back playfully, still clinging to his head as she stood up. “Go get my meds box from my nightstand, quickly!”

Shadow stopped squirming, and quickly looked up at her, concerned. “I’m alright! But I need to change the dosage with Grandfather. Go get ‘em for me, please?”

The hedgehog didn’t look convinced. He looked between her and Abraham, giving him the dirtiest look like this was all his fault. Upon being urged again by the girl, he reluctantly ran off, but not before shooting Abraham a look of loathing as he passed him. 

As soon as the hedgehog was out of sight, Maria turned to the baffled boy, all humor gone from her face. Her blue eyes were large and bright, her expression more troubled than he’d ever seen it.

“Don’t you tell Shadow.”

“I - huh?” he said stupidly, too stunned to form a coherent answer. Was everyone crazy? Was everyone on this colony crazy? Why was..then his brain caught up with her words. “The freak doesn’t know he’s a freak?!”

“Stop calling him that! How do you even know about this?” she asked urgently. “Only the research team knows, that’s what Grandfather told me. Did your dad tell..?”

“I saw it. I was outside the lab when the alien gave the Professor that...that leech bug thing. I think it’s his child or a piece of him or something.”

“Wha? How-?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he said, voice thinning; the monster’s terrifying black hole of a mouth rose up to the forefront of his mind, the rows of glimmering, dripping teeth and black claws thrashing to crawl out was so vivid his throat closed up and stopped working for a few moments. But now that he was finally - finally opening up to someone about this - 

“You don’t get it-“ he went on in a whisper, pleading with her to somehow understand because he didn’t have the words to truly convey any of it. “You don’t understand how evil that alien felt. There was this awful energy coming from him-”

“Shadow’s nothing like that,” said Maria adamantly.

“Maria, he’s made from that alien. A huge alien with three eyes!” he hissed. “And no mouth or feet! You have no idea, you didn’t see-! I was so scared I can’t even remember what happened after that! Even the Professor was scared! That monster’s evil and he means to do bad things and that thing has his color and his eyes and he’s already starting to sound like him-! He said that would happen, that that thing would turn out like him! You can’t trust him!”

“I said he’s not ‘that thing’, and Shadow’s nothing like that alien; I don’t have to see him to know that.”

“You weren’t there! You have no idea what I’m talking about,” cried Abraham.

“You can’t tell him, Abe,” she pleaded, eyes bright. “You can’t . You don’t know how damaging that can be. Only Grandfather can do that, he’ll know when’s the right time.” God, she wasn’t listening to him at all. Why she was so worried about the little beast’s precious feelings was beyond his understanding. 

“If the Professor thinks he can control him or that freak, he can’t!” snapped Abraham; it still boggled his mind how the Professor could do something so crazy and so dangerous. He couldn’t remember what exactly happened or was said after the Professor took that leech into his hands, but something deep and primal in the boy’s subconscious roiled. “You think you can treat him nice and teach him right and wrong and it will change what he really is?!”

“Yes, because DNA doesn’t define who he is. You should know better than that, Abe! What did Miss Promen teach us? What about all those stories you and I used to read about good parents who had bad kids, and good kids who had bad parents? It’s not always black and white!”

“Yeah, if you’re not an alien vomiting bug children!” yelled Abraham. 

“That alien is not Shadow’s parent, Grandfather is.” God, why is she so stubborn?!

“You’re not listening to me!” he rambled, not really meaning to raise his voice but it did nonetheless. “No one knows how dangerous this - he is because no one saw what I saw ! You weren’t there! And the Professor obviously didn’t tell anyone much of anything because no one would’ve ever agreed to work with him if they saw Shadow being made out of that alien-!” 

“Ssshh!” she interrupted sharply, looking over her shoulder just in case, but the harsh sound cut at her throat, and she began coughing. Abraham moved quickly to hold her up when she began doubling down.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, let’s stop talking about this.” 

“..I’m fine,” Maria said thinly, trying to get the spell out of her system.

“No, it’s making you feel bad. Let’s stop. I just want you to be careful and don’t be alone with him, okay?” 

She shook her head, the coughing hadn’t died down before she again pressed: “Abe, promise me now that you won’t tell him.”

His brain was still reeling in his skull, trying to come to terms with the ludicrous fact that Shadow was the one who didn’t know what he was. For months and months, his whole dilemma had been how he was going to warn his best friend, then it turned out Maria knew all along and just didn’t care or see the danger. 

And it made him feel lonelier than ever. 

She was taking a lot after her grandfather, and it scared the heterochromic boy so much. 

“..When’s the Professor going to tell him?” his voice came out resigned, and it sounded foreign, like it came out of someone else’s mouth. As sharply as the spike of anger and fear had peaked, it dropped - and the boy was suddenly spent, exhausted in spite of his still-racing heart. 

“When Shadow’s mature enough to understand that it changes nothing.”

Of course the Professor would say something mysterious like that, though Abraham. Giving no one anything to work with; keeping everything under his own control and his alone. 

“I’m not gonna wait around till he hurts you-“

“Promise me!” she begged, looking over her shoulder again. “Please! I can never trust you again if you don’t.”

Abraham stared at her, both stunned and hurt. No one was seeing the insanity of this whole situation? Not even her? 

“Please-”

“Alright, already! I promise. Whatever. But that doesn’t mean it’s right!” he gritted. There wasn’t much he could say after that anyway, both kids quickly stopped talking when they saw their teacher returning. 

“I’m sorry for the wait, children, this was a necessary call. Maria, the Professor is waiting for you in the sickbay. Will you be able to get there or should I call Mrs. Bead?”

“No, I can make it. And Shadow’s with me.” Maria smiled gratefully as the hybrid came around the corner with the medicine.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, thought Abraham, remembering the words his father sometimes said. Maria gave him a small, beseeching look over the oblivious hedgehog’s head, politely excused herself to the teacher and walked in the direction of the sickbay, taking Shadow’s hand in hers. 

It must’ve been only seconds, though he had no idea how long he just stood there staring after them, feeling utterly defeated, and very lonely. He started upon a hand landing gently on his shoulder, and turned around to look at Miss Promen’s kind face.

“Let’s clear up the class, shall we?”

Oh, right..tomorrow was off. It was his turn to help tidy up the classroom. Not that it was going to be a long or tiring task - it was a tiny one with only three desks, after all. Four if you counted the freak’s stupid highchair set up next to Maria’s desk.

Still feeling numb, he began to mindlessly move the maps and books to the back of the classroom into their designated drawers.

“..Abraham. A word with you.”

He turned around, and his stomach dropped at the sight of Miss Promen’s unsmiling face, his sketchbook held up her hand. 

Oh crap. Oh crap, he’d forgotten about the sketches.

Feet like blocks of lead, he walked up to her desk, mind already running through all the ways the conversation could reach his mother. Maybe he could beg Miss Promen not to tell her? He’ll do extra homework, take detention, tidy up the classroom for a month - whatever it took. He just couldn’t bear the mental image of his mother’s disappointed face.

Miss Promen sighed, and simply asked: “Why?”

He couldn’t tell her why. The feeling of loneliness only grew wider under his feet, threatening to swallow him whole. Like the black hole that was the alien’s mouth. 

Feeling his throat close up frighteningly fast, he scrambled for any explanation that sounded believable before he broke down or something equally mortifying happened. “How come Shadow doesn’t have to do schoolwork?” God, that sounded stupid. No way she was going to believe that’s the reason he drew Shadow suffering one grisly end after another. 

But if Miss Promen didn’t believe him, she didn’t call him out on it. “He’s still very young-”

“No, he isn’t! He’s not a baby - I heard the Professor say that he’s going to become mature soon.”

“In the physical sense, yes,” explained the teacher patiently. “However, psychologically he’s younger than both you and Maria. He still needs guidance, and has emotional needs like everyone else. He needs to experience certain things to grow up sound in mind and spirit.” 

“He’s a lot smarter than he lets on,” he grumbled, hating the admission.

“I know he is,” she said simply. “But assessing his intellect isn’t what’s important at this point in time. Don’t forget that very big things are expected of him, it would make even the wisest of adults stressed.

“The reason the Professor wants Shadow in school as early as possible is to make him comfortable interacting with others, learn to be part of a group. Socialize and build connections and widen the circle of people he enjoys spending time with.” 

“Connections?” said Abraham, biting back a humorless laugh. “He hates me.”

“Even when you don’t speak, he senses your animosity towards him,” the teacher said neutrally. “He feels you don’t like being near him. How would you react if someone treated you the same way?”

I wouldn’t have to worry about it, because I’m not an alien leech with claws wearing a hedgehog suit, thought Abraham. But of course, he couldn’t say any of those words out loud. 

“I’m not saying you have to force yourself to like someone, that’s not how real friendships form, but is there any reason why you dislike him? Did he do anything bad to you?”

“No,” he gritted, not meeting the teacher’s eyes. What else could he say? Definitely not the truth. “I just find him boring and rude.”

Miss Promen smiled. “He’s much more open with Maria and the Professor than anyone else. That’s exactly what the Professor is trying to help with...he worries Shadow will become lonely any time he’s not with the two important people in his life. He’s very delicate even if he doesn’t seem so. Remember also that there are no other hedgehogs on the ARK for him to learn from. The only other kid is you - your presence is more important than you think.” 

He stayed silent as his teacher continued. “Like I said, he’s still younger than you both emotionally. Have you wondered that maybe he’s unsure of his place in Maria’s life? You don’t have any siblings yet, so this may be a little hard to understand. But I’m the middle child with five other siblings. It could get pretty overwhelming sometimes, especially when I was still little.”

How he’d have liked to tell his well-assuming teacher that his problem with the freak wasn’t that he was taking up all of Maria’s time. Yes, that part sucked but it wasn’t the real issue. Yet listening to what she just said, maybe..

Maybe he can entertain himself with the childish (he didn’t care) fantasy that Shadow might feel threatened by him. He didn’t know if he really believed it, but it gave him some sense of vicious glee, imagining the freak knowing and accepting Abraham would never leave Maria an easy prey to him. 

“And another thing - it’s more important for you and Maria to be on top of your education, so when you return to Earth, you’ll be at the same level as your peers. This isn’t a priority for Shadow’s development; his sole purpose right now is to be Maria’s cure. He’ll be spending more time with the research team in the coming weeks. This is much more important than submitting his own assignments.”

“But why all this praise for so little?”

“Shadow is entering the prepubescent stage soon-“

“The what?”

“The period before he becomes a teenager. After that, his physical growth will begin to slow down and eventually stop,” the teacher explained. Abraham listened silently, wondering to himself just how much the Professor omitted out of his explanation to her. “He’ll be going through very intense testing during this period, and may not be able to attend classes at all-“

Thank God! Oh, thank. GOD. Abraham’s mind screamed in joy.

“Yeah, I can see this news is tearing you apart,” she said exasperatedly, watching the boy’s face literally light up. “Some of the tests will go well, some won’t. He needs to internalize that even the small victories are worth being proud of, life on the ARK isn’t easy for a child as it is.”

God, she really did believe Shadow will grow up like a normal hedgehog, didn’t she; Professor Gerald sure had a way of making people believe and do whatever he wanted.

“Another transfusion is scheduled for the start of the month. Shadow will be in serious testing until that time, and Maria will really need your support. Abe, it’s normal to feel sad your best friend isn’t spending as much time with you as before, but this is temporary. When Shadow is older, you’ll think back on those days and laugh. Perhaps one day, you’ll be the one reaching out to him and wanting to be his friend.”

She gave him back his sketchbook. “I won’t tell you to throw away your drawings, but I want you to put yourself in his place, and think about how you’d like your classmate to treat you. And don’t show them to Maria or Shadow. If you do, I’ll consider it bullying, and I’ll have no choice but to punish you and tell your parents.”

“Yes, Miss Promen.”

Later that evening, whilst eating with his parents at their little round dinner table, his mom informed him she’ll be re-joining the research team soon, for they were going to need all hands on deck with Project Shadow the upcoming period. Great, so now Maria and both his parents are gonna be spending more of their time with Shadow than with him. How wonderful.

Like his teacher, they told him they trusted him to be Maria’s back and support, make sure she’s happy and good especially during the harder days. 

He needn’t be told, he wanted to tell them. If every adult on the ARK was obligated to follow the Professor’s orders, he wasn’t. Yes, he was just a kid who had no real power, but he’d still do anything he could to make sure Maria’s safe.

He laid down in his bed for the night, flipping through his drawings of Shadow in his sketchbook. He was glad Miss Promen didn’t tear them out or make him; drawing was so much better than laying sleepless for hours fantasizing. Since all that was required of him was to not show his drawings, he grabbed his pencil case with renewed fervor, and started drawing some more. Turns out, there was an endless number of very creative ways to end someone. 

When he began to nod off for real, he finally closed the sketchbook, slipped it into his bedside drawer and turned over to sleep. 

Perhaps one day, you’ll be the one reaching out to him and wanting to be his friend, his teacher’s words echoed in his head.

Fat chance, thought Abraham, right before drifting off.

- To be continued -